Thanksgiving in Disneyland Questions...

[Natara]

I'm planning our first-ever Thanksgiving trip right now, and I have some questions that I would love help on.

Firstly, what's the character situation at the Disneyland Hotel ballroom buffet? Do the characters circulate the room -- in other words, walk around to various tables and meet and greet with diners -- or are they stationed in certain places where they remain throughout the length of the dinner -- in other words, set up so you have to go to them rather than vice versa? I'm hoping for the latter as -- and I know this is a bit blasphemous, but -- I'm not a character person and neither is any member of my party, so we'd prefer to have a meal free of any "wandering character" interruptions.

Secondly (and I'm sure this has been asked about a billion times), what should we be expecting crowd-wise in the parks? I've heard conflicting things -- it's absolutely a zoo, it's manageable, it's wall-to-wall crowds, it's not so bad, etc. I'd like to know an average of how busy it may be the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the day of Thanksgiving, and the days immediately following it, if possible.

Thirdly (and I know this question has probably also been asked a billion times), what's your personal favorite place to eat on Thanksgiving? I know people are crazy about the DLH buffet, but since we're not into the characters, I'd like to have a few other choices to look at. Steakhouse 55's dinner sounds interesting, and so does Carnation Café's. Thoughts?

Currently, I have a reservation for the DLH grand ballroom dinner, but if the characters indeed circulate the room and come up to your table, I might cancel it and change to someplace else. Any answers are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

This is just my opinion, if you aren't interested in the characters, I would probably skip the DLH ballroom meal. I don't know if they circulate, but it's pretty pricey and I think the characters is part of what you're paying for. We have eaten at both BTBBQ (non-traditional) and Blue Bayou on Thanksgiving. BB offers their regular menu in addition to a traditional turkey meal. I've heard good things about Jazz Kitchen as well. Somewhere in the HolidayTime super thread, there is a list of restaurants with holiday offerings. I'll see if I can find it in a minute. If you haven't checked out that thread, I suggest you at least look at the first page! Lots of information!

In our experience the days leading up to Thanksgiving were busy, but manageable if you start earlier. Thanksgiving Day was busy in the morning, but felt almost empty when we came out of BB for lunch. It remained quiet the rest of the day (not off season quiet, just quieter than the rest of the week). The two days following Thanksgiving were decent, but busier again. For us, if we start early, the crowds don't really bother us.

ETA: I can't figure out how to link from the DIS app, but there is information on Thanksgiving Day dining on the first page of the Super Thread if you scroll down

 

[Lain]

We’ve been spending Thanksgiving at Disneyland for the last three years, and will again this year, and we always do the buffet at the DLH.

The characters at the DLH buffet are always Pocahontas and Meeko, Chip and Dale, Kinai and Koda, and Pinocchio and Geppetto. They don’t wander from table to table. There are 3 stations set up in fall décor for guests to take pictures with the characters, and the characters cycle in and out throughout the day.

We thought about not doing the DLR buffet this year, in part due to the high cost of the meal. But my DW mentioned good advice – you can dine at any of the other DLR restaurants offering Thanksgiving day meals any time of the year, but the DLH does this feast only for Thanksgiving.

The feast takes up the entire grand ballroom, is really casual but has been perfect for our family holidays for the last three years. There’s fall décor all over the ballroom and serving stations, and the room is awash with orange mood lighting. The food selection is much more varied than anything else at the DLR, including salads, cheeses, shrimp and crab, a kids station, a pasta station, a carving station with holiday foods, and desserts.

We’ve done the Storyteller’s Café Christmas day buffet, which I understand is similar to their Thanksgiving offering, and weren’t impressed. The restaurant was not really dressed up with any additional holiday decorations, and the food seemed like their regular buffet with the addition of some holiday meats and seasonal desserts.